Once a wild animal has been taken, hunters usually desire to weigh and dress the carcass in the field as opposed to transporting the carcass to a storage facility where the carcass may be dressed and weighed at a later time. In general, there are problems with expedient dressing and weighing of game in the field. For example, it is desirable to avoid contact of the carcass with the ground during the dressing process since it is difficult to reach all surfaces of a carcass lying on the ground, and it is desirable to avoid contamination of the carcass meat by engaging the ground.
To avoid having the carcass engage the ground during the dressing procedure, game hangers, sometimes known as “gambrels”, have been used that comprise hooks or other connection devices that grasp the carcass and a rope is used to lift the connection device so as to suspend the carcass above the ground for harvesting the carcass.
Further, it is desirable to weigh the game carcass in the field, before and/or after dressing the carcass.
Once the game carcass has been elevated for field dressing and it is desirable to weigh the carcass, the hunter is likely to want to weigh the carcass twice, once to obtain the total weight of the fully intact game carcass as killed in the wild, and then again after the game carcass has been properly dressed. The hunter is likely to have to lower the carcass from the hanger between the weighing and dressing procedures to connect and disconnect a scale to the game hanger, requiring multiple lifts of the carcass. In the situation where heavy carcasses are to be dressed and weighed, this becomes an onerous and undesirable activity.
Gambrels for game carcasses have been developed for suspending the carcasses above ground for dressing and also for weighing the carcasses. Such carcass gambrels and weighing devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,256,123, 3,395,786 and 6,264,544.
Some of the prior art carcass hangers and weighing devices incorporate a scale with the connecting hooks used to lift the carcass, so that the lifting and weighing of the carcass are performed simultaneously. As the carcass is lifted, the scale begins its weighing function. While it is desirable to have the scale weigh the carcass, it would be desirable to limit the weight applied to the scale during the lifting and handling of the carcass, so as to avoid applying too much weight to the scale.
Thus, there is a need to provide an improved carcass gambrel that can provide a means for lifting the carcass for the purpose of dressing the carcass, and a weighing scale for the purpose of weighing the carcass before and after dressing, with the gambrel and weighing scale configured to limit the amount of weight that can be applied to the weighing scale, and with the gambrel being of a convenient size and structure for use in conditions in the field where the hunter has taken the carcass.